Man meets heroic woman whose CPR kept him alive

At a ceremony earlier this month at a firehouse in Washington, D.C., emergency responders and residents gathered to hear officials recount a dramatic tale of neighborhood heroics.

Joe Cwiklinski suffered a sudden heart attack in his car on Aug. 12, just blocks from his home, and crashed in the middle of the street. Concerned strangers spilled from their houses and porches, praying, crying and calling 911.

Toni Pollard, a registered medical assistant who happened to be walking to the neighborhood grocery store, spotted Cwiklinski, still sprawled in the driver’s seat.

Pollard, who is CPR-certified, pulled him from the car and started madly pumping his chest until paramedics arrived.

“I was just like, ‘Oh, my God, got to pump, got to pump,’” Pollard, 45, said in an interview. “It was exhausting, but the neighbors encouraging me gave me strength to keep going — harder, harder, harder.”

A few minutes later, D.C. Fire and EMS personnel arrived and took Cwiklinski to the nearest hospital, where doctors concluded Pollard’s quick work had saved his life.

But Cwiklinski, 75, a retired schoolteacher, had no idea whom to thank, and anxious neighbors did not know what became of the man they had worked so hard to keep alive.

His longtime partner, Tom Kai — who had been riding in the passenger seat that night — suggested a solution: They could post a thank-you sign near the site of the accident.

They tied the note to a tree. “Good Samaritans of Potomac Ave — You saved My Life!” it read in part, concluding, “Forever Grateful, Joe.”

A stranger snapped a picture of the sign and posted it to Twitter, which led to social media speculation, then press coverage, then the involvement of D.C. Fire and EMS — and finally the award ceremony on Oct. 3.

D.C. Council staffer Nichole Opkins recounted how medical personnel had to administer two rounds of electric shocks to keep Cwiklinski’s heart going.

Then, Cwiklinski took the podium. “I didn’t really realize all of the things that had to be done to get me to this point right now,” he said.

He glanced sideways to Pollard, whom he had just met formally for the first time.

“All I can really think of to say right now is thank you.”

MICHAEL S. WILLIAMSON / WASHINGTON POST Toni Pollard (left), a registered medical assistant who happened to be walking by when Joe Cwiklinski (right) had a heart attack and crashed his car on a Washington street, is honored for reacting instantly and saving his life.